Snow Day

March 26th, 2009

Checked my messages this morning to find that the Penguins have the day off. It was like hearing on the radio that school was cancelled. Snow day! My attention span is limited on a snow day, so here are some bullets.

– My only problem with the Breaking Ben national anthem is that every time I hear someone play the song on an electric guitar, it sounds to me like they're doing a Jimi Hendrix impression and that's a tall order indeed. That said, I give it a thumbs up. And wbsfights, I totally should have used Diary of Janne. I can't believe I didn't think of it. I was thinking Janne's Cryin', but why would he be crying if he just scored two goals? I also considered Sweet Janne, but that sounds kinda sissified to me. (Would you think less of me if I admitted I like the Cowboy Junkies version better than the Velvet Underground version? Let's just keep that to ourselves.)

– With some free time this morning, I got to work on my Escapa! skills. I'm still not very good at it. (Warning. Don't click on that link if you don't have 10 or 15 minutes to waste.)

– Michael Sharp has some interesting info on potential scheduling nightmares for the East Division playoffs. For the record, the schedule at the Wachovia Arena doesn't look too bad. Gaithers on the 16th, Pioneers on the 18th, Dead on the 22nd, Yanni on the 28th.

– I missed that Darren Haydar's goal last night was the 200th professional goal of his career. Congrats to him.

– I also forgot to mention a really key point in last night's game. With the score tied 3-3 in the third period, Aaron Boogaard was called for hooking at 10:02. The Griffins spent pretty much the entire power play in the offensive zone, but John Curry was up to the challenge. I usually make note of how many shots are taken on a given power play, but darn my luck, I forgot to on that occasion. I'd guess it was five or six shots, though. Shortly after the power play ended, Janne Pesonen skated down the ice and scored the GWG.

– To Malk, I think the NHL ship has sailed for Pesonen this season. He hasn't ruled out returning to the Penguins next season, but I think he might be better off finding an NHL team with a little less skill in its top six. Pesonen has been sniping more lately, but he's still at his best with the puck on his stick. He's not going to have the puck much if he plays on a line with Crosby or Malkin.

– To blueline, I voted 1. Pesonen 2. Haydar 3. James last night. I wasn't even sure Minard scored the goal that was credited to him. So yeah, I tend to put some importance on things like setting team records when voting for three stars, but there are other factors too.

A winner of first-place honors in the blogging category of the 2012 Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors awards, Penguins Insider was created to give local hockey fans an interactive, in-depth way to follow the team they so passionately support. The blog's author, beat writer Jonathan Bombulie, has been covering the team since its inception in 1999. Contact him at jbombulie@aol.com

Visit the WBS Penguins page at citizensvoice.com for Penguins stories, photos and more.